Apologies, as I’m sure this has been posted before. I Googled this question and got different answers, so I figured I’d check with the experts here. I want to cut out and replace a section of N/S flex track and add a brass turnout … is it okay to mix the two, or will I have conductivity problems somewhere down the line? I’m willing to solder joints or add feeder lines, if necessary, although the turnout is less than 18" from my original power source. Any help is appreciated!
Well, it can be done, but not the best of ideas. Brass track tends to oxidise more than nickel silver and will need more cleaning. That is why brass track has been or is being phased out.
If you didn’t want to solder the rail joiners, I would solder feeders to the brass turnout just to make sure it has positive power.
It’ll work alright, as Elmer indicated. You just want it to be where it can be reached for easy cleaning. It that location isn’t easy to reach, I’d consider finding a N-S turnout instead.
I did a good bit of mixing of N/S and brass track on my layout. But I would recommend soldering the joiners. Brass oxidizes quick in more humid areas N/S will to, just not as rapidly. I’ve had no problems in my very dry climate with brass.
Mark H
I used both. The main line and passing siding is NS, and I used brass for all of the yard and industrial spur tracks, because I had so much of it from previous lay outs. I soldered the joints and added feeders, in the same fashion as I did the NS main line, and I’ve had 0 problems, DC or DCC. After it sits for while, unused, I’ll give it a quick alchohol wipe down before a nite of heavy switching. The biggest difference you’ll see is the color. The sides you can hide with paint and weathering, but you’ll still see the color difference in the cleaned and shined rail head.
Mike.
This is one of those questions where the answer is “Yes, it CAN be done” - “but it’s usually best not to”.
If its a temporary thing, go ahead and do it. If its to be permanent, I would not.
If it’s a turnout that will be in regular use and you operate frequently (several times a week) brass won’t be much of a problem. OTOH, if this turnout leads from a seldom-switched industrial lead to a nearly unused spur, it will probably have to be cleaned before each use.
Most of the conductivity issues with brass rail stem from problems encounteed by clubs in humid environments where operation might have been a once-a-month occurrence. When those people switched to nickel-silver rail (because it looks more like steel) they noticed that their, ‘Clean before each use,’ problem (mostly) went away - and trumpeted that to the world.
I have some brass rail on the brake van ends of some back-in sidings. It has been there for over five years and has never been cleaned or gleemed (Like my N-S track) because, in normal operation, it is electrically impossible to put a locomotive on it. Just for grins, I put my little block of lead on wheels (1873 Hohenzollern 0-4-0T by Kawai) at the bumper end of each track. It ran out to the throat without a hiccup on all of them. Of course, humidity here is considered high if it has to be written with two digits…
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Thanks, everyone, for the advice. I think I will wait and just purchase a N/S turnout since there’s no big rush to put it in right now. It won’t be getting a lot of use, and since this is mostly my kids’ layout, I want it to be as trouble-free as possible.